Grand Magic Games X800: Dragons of the Horizon vs The Purple Swordsmen
The Domus Flau was as lively as ever, the previous day's matches making them all the more excited to see what the guilds had to offer for their final members. The excitement was nearly tangible with the screams that filled the stadium, further amplified by the circular structure. A loud voice boomed over the speakers, silencing the audience as they waited for the reveal of the next four combatants. "Ladies and gentleman, boys and girls, our next match features members from two relatively small guilds, though the names alone speak volumes of their strength. Two beasts, the Phoenix and Dragon, shall clash today, with only one left to rule the skies!" Mato shouts, eliciting a massive roar from the crowd, various chants to those they wanted to win. "Without further ado, I welcome those who fight for Dragon Gunfire! Chase Grimsted and Theia Zhulong!" Chase walked onto the arena floor with a smile, giving a few small waves to the crowd as he did. He seemed to be on edge, though that was to be expected to some degree considering he was just about to enter a fight, no matter the friendly implications of it. He was also slightly annoyed that he hadn't gotten to fight yesterday, and he was full of pent up energy and stress that he wanted to get out. He turned to Theia, looking over his teammate, and then facing in front of him again, taking a deep breath in. "They sure like screaming," He said, a more genuine small smile pulling at the corners of his lips. Regardless of how he was feeling before, a good match would serve to alleviate most of the negativity he felt, he was sure. He also had Theia at his side, one of the few people who he wanted at his side during a battle. If he were alone, he doubted he'd be able to apply the brakes fast enough to ensure he didn't do something he'd later regret, though with her efficient and easy ways of communicating, he believed they would be fine. "Yeah they do. Well let's give a good reason to cheer for us, yeah?" Theia said as she clenched her fist up in anticipation of their triumph. Not having been picked for the matches yesterday Theia was a bit disheartened, but she was filled with vigor and excitement at showing the crowd her strength, as well as taking home a victory for her guild. Theia looked up at Chase with a bright smile on her face. "Let's show these guys what a great team we are! I have faith in us!" From the other side of the arena, the crowd started to scream as loud as they can as they watched two familiar faces walked into the arena. Mato shouted to the top of his lungs, "Making their appearances for the second time, the Swordsmen of Purple Phoenix! Dex D. Draco and Reid Aquirre!!" Dex walked out of the dark corridor and into the arena alongside Reid, "Dang, the crowd is yelling louder than usual. Haha." He said, his face filled with excitement. Dex stood next to Reid with his arms crossed, he was a bit disappointed due to the result of his match in the day before, but he have had extra training during the night just to become stronger, even if it's just a little. "You ready to show what Purple Phoenix's team Phoenix Chaser is really about?!" Reid Aquirre chuckled as he came out "Definitely like my odds better then who I fought last time." He stood next to Dex as he observed his opponents "Don't let your guard down Dex, these ones could be tricky." As he said this the grin on his face never disappeared as he looked forward to the upcoming challenge he would soon face. Theia walked up to the two Purple Phoenix mages and stuck her hand out for a friendly hand shake before the match began. "It's nice to meet you guys, and I wish you the best of luck in this fight." Theia said with radiant smile on her face. Her excitement was building inside, eager to be released in the fight, but she though formalities were always a good way to make a good impression on others and hopefully become friends. Chase stood still, simply watching his opponents as Theia approched them. It seemed the pair were complete opposites, Chase's cold and hard stare clashing with the blonde's hardly restrained excitement at the prospect of meeting others. "Those are confident words," He states, settling his gaze solely on Reid. "The only thing that determines the fate of this match is how hard you've worked to get to this point. And after you're performance yesterday..." He states, trailing off with what appears to be a goading tone in his voice, accented by the smirk on his face. Dex shook hands with Theia, her expression was bright and cheerful, unlike her teammate's attitude, but Dex didn't mind, he met someone who was way worse. "Well, let's all do our best shall we?" Dex said as he unsheathed all of his swords at once and equipped them. "Reid, remember our deal with Alden? If you don't, then let me refresh your memory. If we lose, he's going to take away our equipment and make us eat raw food without any drinks." He shivers at the thoughts of losing his swords and not being able to drink. Dex puts on the black bandana from his left arm onto his head, it helps keep his hair back since they always make his forehead itchy. I can't afford to lose this battle.. Reid laughed at the recollection of that scene. He didn't say anything to add to that but simply grinned as he looked at Chase. "Aye, we got this." He placed his right hand on his sword as he looked onto his opponents. Although he didn't recall Alden making any deals with him in particular, as picked up his sword Ragnarok as he slammed it into the ground to demonstrate its strength. "Ladies first, let's have a blast!" As he said this he took a defensive position waiting for the upcoming attack of the 2 dragon gunfire mages. Chase looked at the swords the pair drew, glancing between the massive size of Ragnarok and the number of them Dex seemed to be confident in wielding. "Overcompensating for something?" He asks, the smirk on his face fading a moment later as he focused in on the battle ahead of them. "Distance," he stated in a questioning tone as he turned his gaze to Theia, waiting for a look of confirmation. Battle tactics weren't really the black-haired man's thing, he just went forward with whatever came to mind first, though in this situation he doubted that was a good idea. He was confident the pair of them could put an end to this match before it even began, though he doubted Theia would agree to such a thing as she was definitely the type to play fair and play nice when nothing major was at stake. While slightly disgruntling, Chase knew it was in his best interest to try out his other means of combat anyway, so he wouldn't fight against it either. Theia jumped back, following Chase's direction and getting some distance between the duo. She saw their swords and knew they must favor close combat, yet she knows that sword pressure is a skill many sword users tend to favor to cover the weakness in their long range attacks. She knows that she will have to figure a plan later to deal with that, but for now, she speaks a coded message to Chase, hoping he follows her idea. "Well let's give them a good fight, eh Chase? Time for us to take flight, shooting our arrows straight to the sun." She said with a coy smile, earning an equally sly smile and nod from her tall companion. With a swish of his hand Chase creates and sends out dozens of invisible, soft, feather-like bouts of wind high in the sky that he sends towards his opponent, which then adhere to their skin, sinking into their pores. The feathers deplete the target's physical strength by absorbing and expelling oxygen from their body. "Sky Dragon Feathers." Theia follows suit, hoping that the enemy is distracted by Chase's attack coming from above, sending out over a dozen high speed beams of light, with half following a straight path towards their target, and the other half fanning out to come in from their flank. "Light Dragon Shimmering Arrows!" "I feel a disturbance in the air.." Dex said, using both of his wind magic and swords in sync. He stood in front of Reid and start to rotate his body, manipulating the air around him and thus, creates a mini-tornado that seems to redirect Chase's Sky Dragon Feathers back at him. "Reid, do something about the Light Dragon Slayer's attack!" Reid nodded at Dex's words as he aimed his left pointer finger upward as several walls of earth upward to block the arrows coming from their flank as he quickly took his blade Ragnarok, coating his body in Steel thanks to his steel magic and stood in the way of the beams of light aimed directly at them with Ragnarok as the shield. Thus protecting him and Dex from the light beams, although dragon slayers were an unknown enemy to him as he had never really fought one before. He quickly launched several fireballs from behind his sword at Theia hoping something hits her but figures they won't. Chase raises his hand in front of him, stating "Sky Dragon's Cushion," creating an invisible high-density pocket of air just in front of himself and Theia. This allowed the feathers that were returned to him to be stopped, and the fire shot their way was diminished almost instantly, not even a flicker of heat reaching the pair where they stood. Chase and Theia exchanged a look while the attacks were being blocked, silent thoughts seemingly passing between the two. They both gave a small nod before Chase shifted his arms so they were both pointed to his left, dropping the barrier of air with the motion as well. He went through a small dance-type ritual as it seemed as he repeated the incantation; "O swift wind that dashes through the heavens. Ile Vernier." This surrounded them in a translucent sphere colored with their respective auras—bright gold for Theia and dark navy for Chase—which allowed them to be suspended several inches off the ground. The ethernano that enveloped them would enhance their speed by a rather impressive margin, roughly four times their previous stats. A higher amount of magical energy had to go into the spell, however, Chase had no intention of keeping it up for an extended period of time, so it would be of little consequence to him. Going a step further than speed enhancement, Theia enacts Veiled Body, altogether hiding the pair from sight. This is done by refracting the light particles around them so that they don't bounce off their bodies, but instead, are positioned to reflect what is behind them, giving them the illusion of invisibility. With these two spells in place, tracking the pair would be nigh impossible. This is due to the obvious lack of the use of sight against them, but also the pair's potential to travel at about half the speed of sound at the drop of a dime without any problems thanks to the circular barrier made by Vernier, and further augmenting that speed by putting in greater effort. This would allow them to clear the distance between them and their opponents in less time than it took to blink. With this surge of speed and invisibility Theia knew they would have the upper hand in landing a hit on their opponents. Although they were still testing the waters to gauge the Phoenix strength, they both felt it best to do add a bit more damage to the attack. They both cast their respective elemental Dragon Claws and kicked off the earth, weaving in and out of one another, using their sense of smell to ensure their smooth path. Breaking from the center they each designate a target and go in for a devastating elemental punch on the lower back of their opponents, which if landed, would cause great damage to their kidneys. Although the punch is swift, it's power is increased with the speed behind it. Once the move is executed they both fall back to their previous positions, their bodies coming back into view as the Veiled Body spell wears off. Their distance still allows for reaction time to their enemy, but is a close enough distance that they can close, should they see an opening. Dex's Touch Sensory Magic kicks in as he reacted to Dragon's punches by jumping out of the way. However, there was a consequence in his action, since the Dragon Slayers were going at half the speed of sound, the message sent to Dex's brain was a bit too quick for him so it temporarily gave him headaches. Reid's instincts kicked in, albeit he wasn't as fast as Dex he did possess more solid defenses to be more specific a moderately steel armored body covering himself, he never deactivated his steel magic. What he lacked in speed he made up with power and defense. The worst the attack by Theia did was leave a nasty bruise. "Was that a bug bite? I didn't feel a thing," Although he was bluffing his poker face was quite impressive. This did bring a conundrum to Reid's plan though these Dragon Slayers had solid teamwork and the power and coordination to make it work, if they didn't tip the favors back they would not last long enough to make the match suspenseful for the audience. Based on what he could gather based on what happened with his fireballs the air they used to supply it suddenly burned out or disappeared in a sense, no power no flames can manifest without its source. So his opponents were a Light and Wind Dragon slayer combo it seemed. He had a smug grin as he deduced this. He then aimed his hand at Chase as he used Earth Magic to bring the earth around him to a fine point and attempted to spear his back with an earth spear as hard as rock. Chase was peeved that his attack hadn't landed, though instead of getting depressed or otherwise sad about, it just made him want to land a hit even more. The earth spear that had attempted to pierce through him was blocked as Theia stated, "Light Dragon's Photon Shield," allowing a square of light energy to appear behind Chase. She was able to create one efficient enough to stop the attack in its movement because she could see her partner from where she stood, so intercepting the spear hadn't been difficult at all. Regardless, Chase had felt it coming and was prepared to move before Theia had stated her spell. "Box?" He questions, to which the smaller of them nods. Chase smirks, his posture seemingly getting more relaxed. "Oh c'mo~n," Chase draws out, staring hard at Dex. "If light footing is all you have then it's not even worthwhile to fight you." Chase makes a finger gun, shooting an air bullet at Dex's calf—the one closer to his partner—through his Turbulent Shot. He then focuses over to Reid. "A sneak attack? Really? Even if you hadn't been so glaringly obvious with your own movements, I would've known it was coming from a mile away. My senses are leagues above your own, I can even smell your fear. You're easier to read than a book, and I have the literacy skills of a seven-year-old.'' 'Oh no, what am I, a massive disappointment to my guild and those who came to watch me, going to do against these people?' '' You are a sad, sad man, Reid, carrying around a blade you can't even effectively wield just so you look a little more intimidating. You should concede just like you did in your last match and save everybody the trouble." He fires another bullet at Dex's calf, presumably from his new point farther away from his partner. Theia understood the plan that Chase had suggested, yet she let out a slight giggle at his over exasperated taunts. Although she did agree that their senses far outclassed that of her opponents, she knew they would need to be a bit more creative if they wanted to end this match quickly. Seeing Chase fire off the bullets at Dex, although with not near the accuracy she knew he was capable of, she caught on to his scheme and decided to play along. "You should listen to Chase here, it would save you the energy of trying to keep that false sense of security and pride on your face. Needle Bringer!" Theia says as she waves her arm in an upward motion, releasing a rushing wave of massive light spikes that rip from the earth below and rise to the surface, impaling and tearing anything above it apart. The spikes travel a path straight down the middle of the two phoenix mages, growing out left and right, aching to dig their tips into the skin of Theia's opponents. Dex swung Hell and Horizon, Hell cutting the first air bullet apart, the air currents blowing to his sides, Horizon deflecting the second air bullet back at Chase, Dex being pushed a few feets back due to the air pressure. Using Heaven, Dex created a wave out of Ethernano and sent it to Theia, "Sword Beam!" Manipulating the air beneath their feets, Dex lifted both Reid and himself up into the air to avoid the spikes. "Might be hard to balance, but you'll get the hang of it." Reid didn't need to be an expert to figure they were trying to irritate them. He kept grinning as Chase brought up the last match against the Miracle of Koma Inu. Their words combined was more or less light burns to his ego. "Oh, come on you guys I know you can do better! those burns didn't even phase me let alone reach me. Oh and before I forget you try fighting Shin yourselves before you assume I just threw the match." With those words said he moved on to the next order of business, he placed Ragnarok into his right hand, as he did so he manipulated the earth below them both to suddenly erupt beneath them to force them upwards if they were gonna hold the advantage they needed to stay on top of the landing hits on their enemies club if they even wanted a shot at winning. He then used his fire magic for a quick boost of speed as he attempted to hit Theia with Ragnarok to knock her downwards or even cut her a bit either result would work. When his air bullets were deflected, Chase sighed in discontempt, shifting his body to avoid the projectile that was reflected back at him. The blade of ethernano that came flying towards Theia was deflected as Theia pulled out her own blade, meeting the move with one of the same breed, which ultimately dissipated both attacks. The shift in the air made by Dex was not unnoticed by Chase, who created a sphere of air in his hands, thus creating Sky Dragon's Sphere, then passed it over to where the man hovered. Instantly, the air from his spell was absorbed into the orb, which would then cause him to plummet to the ground again. As Reid came at Theia with Ragnarok, she was able to evasively maneuver about the massive blade, though it did manage to shallowly cut her forearm as she did. With Reid in the air above them, the pair of Dragon Slayers nodded to each other, Theia quickly forming a Photon Sheild around her, her partner, and Reid, thus trapping them in, and more importantly, keeping Dex out. Chase then cast Sky Dragon's Barrier around the inner layer of light ethernano, making the dome around them a double layer. This would then create a third of their team's Tempest Style: Yata Mirror, slightly weaker because of the absence of its final layer, though it would serve to have the same purpose. When the light layer was popped, a blast of air would push anyone near it back. With that, Chase quickly moved so that Theia was partially behind him, giving her time to absorb the light in the area, performing Light Dragon's Total Eclipse, both to completely rob their opponent of sight, as well as heal her wound. "O strength of arm to cleave the heavens. Arms," He enchanted, surrounding both himself and Theia in a quavering aura of their corresponding aura coloration. Chase then dashes forward, lowly stating "Sky Dragon's Iron Fist," as he does. When he gets just in front of Reid, now in the copse of complete and utter darkness, he shifts, going behind him and then delivering a fierce blow at the man's back. Should it connect, he would be blasted towards Theia, who would be waiting with a spell of her own to quickly dispatch their opponent and allow them to move onto their next target. It would be highly unlikely that Reid was able to dodge the attack in his blind state, and his other senses would betray him, as the layer of air within the light dome would cause a constant slight sound from all around them, distorting anything else. While this continuous sound was a tad annoying to the Dragon Slayers, it was nothing compared to the constant yapping of their opponents, at least to Chase anyway. Theia, who had regained some of her strength from absorbing the light within the dome took comfort to know that the slash on her arm would be healed shortly. Still holding her blade in one hand, she began to mold a highly dense ball of rotating light. Once connected it would feel as if thousands of glass shards were slicing the skin, this would be followed by the release of pressure caused by condensing such light into the 2 foot ball. It's golden white glow was the only light seen inside the dome, and she aimed to time it right after Chase executing his attack; relying on her heightened sense of smell to be able to detect the incoming body of Reid. ''Just as planned, soon this one will be done and we can solely focus on taking down the other swordsmen. This match is ours. No one can beat the teamwork or tactics of Chase and I. ''Her senses remained focused as she prepped for her time to strike. Reid calculating, Ragnarok at its dullest could at least shallowly cut her, which did encourage him but their next performance he at least gauged would be tough to maneuver through with Ragnarok in its sealed state. Not being able to see did confirm his speculation that Theia was indeed a light slayer of dragons which made the combined attack from the 2 of them frustrating considering how barraged his senses were. Even though there was no light Reid seemingly had no trouble keeping an eye on his opponents, although this was mostly his combat reflexes and sixth sense at work which even then would have trouble being 100% accurate but for the most part his ethernano sense didn't fail him. He activated Ragnarok's unleashed state at a pretty good time as it shot out 6 other blades with the hilt holding an incredibly sharper blade than its great sword appearance. The Fire thrusters wouldn't help in long consecutive points Chase was a problem a big one. As Chase maneuvered behind him he moved in his Ragnarok blade to block Chase's punch the force behind it was a bit too much for him to really stop considering they were in the air. He did send 2 of the now floating blades at Chase should they connect it wouldn't be wrong to consider they'd go in pretty deep before stopping. As he got knocked back by Chase's punch it didn't take much convincing to believe that he was the current priority target of the team. As 2 of the other floating blades converged on the one Reid was currently wielding adding to its shape as Reid used his Fire magic to redirect his momentum sideways using fire thrusters, the orb coming at him was trouble some though. Using his Steel magic he coated his body in steel once again, not really knowing what the heck it is, he reflexively swung at it cleaving it in 2 with the added assist of his fire thrusters to gain a sort of jagged defense in what few seconds he could. He impacted with the ground hard, the ground literally dragging Reid in, although this was the work of his earth magic he needed a breather. Dex was on his own for a bit as he collected his thoughts. Category:Aaniimee Category:Lady Komainu Category:VentusLight Category:Gruntmaster26